Raid: The Blacksmith-Chapter 42: Live Long Enough: Part Three

"It’s really you! Raid! The Blacksmith! Amazing! When Peyton told me you’d be coming, I thought she was joking but you’re really here!" Exclaimed the receptionist, Hazel in excitement.

"Uh... Fan?"

"Of course!"

"In just two days?"

"What does any of that matter when you’re the first Warrior to solo clear a Dungeon of a Rank higher than your own?"

"Good point."

She then stood up from her chair and took out her phone.

"On that note. Do you mind taking a few selfies with me? I really don’t wanna miss this chance."

I’d be lying if I said I was a photogenic person but I felt the what-the-hey urge to humor her.

"Sure, what-the-hey."

See?

Anyway. "But on the condition that you tell me where to go to see Peyton." I added.

"Deal." She said, smiling in agreement.

I then crossed over to her side of the table and she started taking her photos. Like I said, I’m not exactly a photogenic person, so while she was doing tongue-outs, duck-faces, peace-signs, finger-hearts and so forth, I was doing thumbs-ups, thumbs-ups, and even more thumbs-ups. We finished up with over ten selfies.

"Satisfied?" I asked.

"Yeah, these are awesome, thank you. Now, I shouldn’t keep you here any longer than I have or else Peyton might have my head."

"That’s a little extreme, don’t you think?..." But then I remembered. This is Peyton we’re talking about.

"On second thought. Yeah, she’d definitely do that."

"Right? That woman honestly scares me more than some Warriors and monsters."

"But she is a Warrior though. Does she not know that? Well, that’s a Spy Class for ya. Not even her colleagues know about her true occupation."

"Anyway, she told me that I’m supposed to lead you to the Manager’s Office, so you’re gonna wanna go down the central corridor you see before you. Over at the end of the path is the main elevator, use it to go up to the thirteenth floor. After that, you’ll find the Manager’s Office at the end of the middle pathway." She explained.

"Got it, thanks. Have a good one then."

"You too. Thanks again for the selfies!"

I made my way down the central corridor. Following her directions perfectly, I entered the elevator as soon as I arrived. They called it an elevator but in actuality it looked nothing like one. There were no walls and no elevator doors.

All there was, was a flat cylinder surface with a black teleportation magic circle placed on it. As soon as I stepped on it, a holographic square appeared in front of me, it was the control panel.

"Maybe they still call it an elevator because even though it’s more of a teleportation device, it still operates like any other normal elevator. I’m guessing it has a limit to how many people it can teleport as well. And it might also not allow two people from different floors to use it at the same time."

The control panel had a large number of buttons, twenty of which represented the building’s floors. I pressed the one written ’Floor 13: Association Management’, as the elevator started to move afterwards. In an instant, I had arrived.

"Guess that’s teleportation for ya."

"Hey there kinkster. What took you so long?"

I didn’t need to look to know who that was.

"That insufferable nickname, again."

"Yeah sorry. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to at this point so you’re gonna have to get used to it. Anyway, come with me, the old man’s waiting for you."

"’Old man?’, can she afford to say that about her own boss."

She started dragging me over, taking my hand and pulling me straight to the Manager’s Office down at the end of the middle pathway. The door had a small rectangular board etched on it, written ’Manager’s Office’.

Peyton then entered enthusiastically. "Heyyo! Mission successfully complete and I’ve acquired the target! You are all permitted to praise me now!"

"Yeah, I highly doubt she’d be allowed this much casual exertion unless she had a special relationship with the Manager."

"Seriously? You call this a success? What part of ’’must be done without the F-Rank’s knowledge’’ did you not understand?"

Peyton’s excitement was almost immediately shut down. The one responsible, a silver haired beauty, her eyes thin with a beautiful velvet color. They looked almost distant, as if staring straight into a void. She wore the same working tuxedo Peyton wore and had a fancy old-school classic analog watch on her left wrist. She was slightly taller than Peyton though. And had other features that were bigger than Peyton’s which will not be mentioned. Her nametag read ’Melissa’.

"Hey, it’s not my fault!" Peyton defended herself. "He had a Skill that allowed him to sense me!"

"There’s no way that’s true." Melissa had a hard time believing it. Understandably so.

"Uh...actually, I do have an A-Rank Skill." So I saw fit help Peyton out, it didn’t make sense to me that she’d be blamed for something that wasn’t entirely in her control.

"See?" Said Peyton. "Oh, and don’t forget to tell them about how you tricked me into thinking you died too." She added.

"Don’t you forget who’s helping you out here."

"Okay, I’ll be quiet."

"Good."

"She’s so-"

"Excuse me, Mr. Raid."

"Oh, just Raid thanks."

"Alright then, Raid. Look don’t get me wrong, we’re aware of your...oddly unexplainable capabilities, but I hope you understand if we may have a tough time believing that you, an F-Rank, the only F-Rank in the world at that have an A-Rank Skill." Said Melissa.

"Of course I do. So I’ll prove it." I then activated the Soul-Piercing Eyes Skill and Treasure Hunt Skill. I controlled the radar it emitted to only cover the entire building as the waves permeated throughout the room and outside. Only one person sensed it and gave out a slight reaction in response. The rest however, didn’t feel a thing. I then spoke.

"Including Miss Melissa-"

"Just Melissa, thanks."

"... Okay." I said in a chuckle then continued. "Including Melissa and Peyton, there’s exactly nine-hundred and seventeen A-Ranks in this building right now, and only one S-Rank. You." I said as I pointed towards the only person who sensed my Skills and the only one my Skills couldn’t sense.

"That’s impossible." Said Melissa, her eyes, though somewhat unnoticeable, a tad widened in surprise. Peyton just grinned ear to ear while nodding her head. She must’ve already gathered that Treasure Hunt had reached A-Rank.

"Hm." A soft chuckle escaped his lips. ’’Live long enough, I guess." Then he finally spoke. The only one of us all who was seated. The Manager. Chadwick Sukala.

There he sat, on his comfortable chair at the far end of the room. A large table in front of him, with a single cup of coffee on top of it. Unlike Peyton and Melissa, his suit was white and only his tie was black. On his right chest was a fancy nametag with his full name in small writing and the word ’MANAGER’’ in bigger writing and all uppercases above it. He looked a lot like old man-Gam, which finally confirmed for me that they were brothers. But unlike old man-Gam, whose expressions could be used in memes, he radiated the aura of a leader.

"So you’re the Raid kid I’ve heard so much about? Your reputation doesn’t do you justice, that’s for sure."

"Thank you sir. Although you’ll have to forgive me. I really can’t say I know much about you since old man-Gam didn’t tell me much other than the fact that you had a car he once sto-I mean borrowed from you."

"Oh, so you do know who I am? I was sure he didn’t tell you anything at all. I don’t know if it’s because he’s scatterbrained or just a jerk but that older brother of mine is a real piece of work."

"Tell me about it." We shared a laugh while Melissa and Peyton kept quiet with slightly confused looks on their faces.

"Hold on." It had taken a while but I realized something that didn’t add up right.

"Wait. Did you say that old man-Gam is your older brother? Isn’t it the other way around?" I asked.

"Oh. Yeah, I can see why you’d think that. I do look a tad older than him. See... As soon as we Awakened as Warriors, that sneaky bastard actually circulated a large portion of his Mana to increase the already incredible longevity that becoming a Warrior grants us. All so that he could "LoOk GoOd FoR tHe LaDiEs" he said." He taunted, using finger quotes, looking somewhat exhausted and annoyed at the same time. I was under the impression that younger brothers are the ones who should be giving their older brothers a hard time.

"I mean, I’m an orphan on top of being an only child so I wouldn’t know much about that kinda stuff, that’s discounting the kids at the orphanage of course, but their relationship does kinda seem backwards."

Part of me theorized that the stress that old man-Gam gave Chadwick contributed in his aging somehow. Not to say he was weak, he had a very large build. I was sure he’d tear me to pieces if we had a go at it but the grey hair and beard he had honestly made me feel a little sorry for him.

"Yep, that sounds like something he’d do." High level Mages and other similar Classes proficient in Mana manipulation have always had the ability to use Mana to go beyond passed simply healing and preserving life to the point of prolonging it. It’s why some Warriors have a much higher longevity rate than others even though the longevity we gain when we Awaken is more or less the same.

"Knowing old man-Gam’s personality, Awakening as a Great Mage must’ve been the height of his life. Of course he’d milk it for all it’s worth."

"Tell me about it. But enough about that idiot, let’s talk about why you’re here... Aaand how to move forward, of course."

"Okay. Then, can I take a seat?" I asked.

"Of course. Make yourself at home. This is your uncle’s office, after all. Peyton, Melissa, you too. Get comfortable." He said harboring an honest smile.

In front of his table was a slightly smaller one with a large five person couch on its left and another one on its right. I sat comfortably on one of them and felt a calming sensation envelop me.

"I sense Mana. The couch is Enchanted!" I thought. "Amazing. To think there’s someone crazy enough to even think of this, putting a Spell on a couch just to make it more comfortable."

Peyton and Melissa sat on the other couch opposite to me. It seemed like they were used to it since they didn’t react the same way I did as they sat.

So we then started talking about why I was there... Aaand how to move forward, of course.